Classes
� Explorer � � New players are sent to Maple Island, a floating island specifically designed to be beginner-friendly. Unlike in many other MMORPGs, players in MapleStory cannot choose a job when they create a character. Rather, every character starts with the "Beginner" job. When characters reach level 10 (8 for magicians), they can complete the first job advancement and become a Warrior, Magician, Bowman, Pirate, or a Thief. Further class progression is only allowed within the scope of the first class advancement chosen. There are four class advancements available progressively through out the game. Some players choose not to get jobs and experience the Maple world in a permanent beginner state. Others chose to isolate themselves in Maple Island; these players are called Islanders. The aforementioned two groups are extremely rare and difficult, and as such they should not be looked down upon. � � � Aran and Evan In some servers, players can create a character called "Aran". Aran is a legendary hero from the past, who fought the Black Mage with the four other legendary heroes, but was sealed in ice by the Black Mage. He awakens to the call of a girl, Lilin (Lirin), and finds himself on an island called Rien. This is the storyline, but the tutorial goes quite differently. In the tutorial, you start out as a level 200 Aran so that you can be introduced to the Aran's unique feature, the Combo System. Combo counts are generated by hitting monsters with your polearm. (Combo counts give you stat buffs and allow you to cast combo-consuming skills.) The bowman instructor, Athena Pierce, is seen on a boat with many other refugees fleeing the Black Mage. As she goes through the list of refugees, it is discovered that a child is missing. This is where Aran is sent through the burning forest, learning the combo system on the way, to find the child. Then Aran must travel back. Athena Pierce tells Aran to flee with her and the refugees, but Aran decides to stay and fight with his comrades. Then the tutorial is over and you awaken as a level 1 Aran. (Note: While Aran is depicted as a legendary hero, you can actually create more than one Aran on your account. The "one Aran" notion is simply for plot significance). Aran gets four job advancements like Adventurers. The next class released seems to follow the storyline of the Legendary Heroes. The Magician Hero who fought against the Black Magician along with Aran was called Freed, and he cast all of his spells through his Onyx Dragon, Afrien. It is believed (not confirmed) that Freed was killed and Afrien was frozen in ice. On December 7, 2009 in Korean MS, a new class was released, called Evan. Evan himself is a simple farm boy, but one day he comes into possession of a baby dragon called Mir. At some point in his journey, Evan learns that his dragon Mir is an Onyx Dragon, like Afrien. This and the fact that the Level 200 medal for Evan is named "Hero's Successor" leads the community to believe that Evan was chosen to be Freed's successor. The main gimmick of Evan is that the boy has no power, he casts all of his spells through Mir. The other interesting part is that unlike any other class, Evan gets ten job advancements, dubbed "Masteries", at levels 10, 15, 20, 30, 45, 70, 85, 100, 110, and 120. Mir, the dragon, changes appearance throughout these masteries, and the character gains new skills in each mastery (like the other characters' job advancements). In addition, Evan can complete quests to gain SP (skill points) which can then be put toward mastering spells. Like Aran, the idea of "one Evan" is simply for plot significance. In addition to combat statistics, characters have "Fame". Although publicized by the game's creators, fame serves little practical purpose besides fulfilling some quest and equipment requirements. Once characters reach level 15, they are able to raise or drop the fame of any other character once per day. A character cannot raise or drop the same character's fame more than once per month. The maximum amount of fame a character may receive is 30,000. A ranking feature, available in certain versions of MapleStory, keeps track of players that are performing well in total ranking, job ranking, world ranking and fame ranking. Rank information is available from the region website of the player and can also be found in-game. Cyngus Knights In some servers, players can now also create a character of the Cygnus Knights. The Cygnus Knights were an order created by a young Empress (appropriately named Cygnus) to vanquish the Black Mage once and for all. Such a character will start out as a Noblesse rather than a beginner, and their tutorial is located in Ereve, another island. There are five Cygnus Knights, and each one parallels an Adventurer class: Dawn Warrior/Soul Master (Warrior + Light/Holy Element), Wind Archer/Wind Breaker (Bowman + Wind/Storm Element), Blaze Wizard/Flame Wizard (Magician + Fire Element), Night Walker (Thief + Darkness Element), and Thunder Breaker/Striker (Pirate + Lightning Element). The main differences are that Cygnus Knights only get three job advancements, in comparison to the Adventurers' four. As a result, the Cygnus Knights' maximum level is 120 instead of 200.